Tag: Jesus

“But one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.’” (Revelation 5:5)

The title of this post is a deliberate misquote. We all acknowledge that one of the Lord’s titles is ‘The Lion of the Tribe of Judah‘. What I am talking about here is the new tribe that belongs to the Lion of Judah – a tribe of present-day apostles, prophets, priests, teachers, warriors and followers that are being raised up in these times to put on the Full Armor of God and follow the Lion of Judah wherever He may lead them. Note: this word ‘tribe’ is not synonymous with ‘church’ or ‘churches’ – far from it.

Many will argue that this concept is ‘unscriptural’, that apostles and prophets no longer exist. I say to you that ‘scriptural’ is a sliding scale in many people’s hands: but most certainly it is wrong to deny the latest moves of God on this ground. He is the author of scripture. In this age, He is talking directly to His flock, and in some cases using scripture to illustrate and explain what His next moves will be.

Amos 3:7 says, “Surely the Lord God does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.”

When Jesus walked this earth, His message was very simple, and He had no time for the leaders of the church of the day. His message was so discomfiting for them, so alien to their beliefs and their entrenched status, that they killed Him.

The story has not changed. Those who are entrenched in religiosity and doctrinal beliefs are still with us. They are still the biggest detractors from what The Father is doing in the present time, and unfortunately since they are largely represented in the established church, their views tend to ‘carry weight’. They are not killing Jesus, but they most definitely ARE killing His message. We have gone from ‘The Law’ of Jesus’ day to a new kind of ‘legalistic’ bondage.

We hear fairy tales like, “There are no miracles today” … “God no longer speaks through Prophets” … “While miracles may have had their value for the early Christians, they have no value for us, for our experience is different from theirs” et cetera …. et cetera.

So… does God no longer speak? Has He gone silent? What are we to make of the testimonies of people who are hearing from Him today? What are we to make of the plain words Jesus spoke when He walked the earth?

Quite clearly, there are people who are happy to count themselves saved by the Lord, but all they want to do is sit in their ‘saved’ bubble, carry on with life as usual, believe what their pastor tells them to believe and wait for the Lord to call them home. “Don’t talk to me, Jesus – I don’t want to hear.”

That is not what it’s about, people – the Lord is still speaking, and He expects us to listen up, take responsibility and act accordingly. How else are we to be transformed “from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18)?

If this is true, then what are we to make of the passages in scripture that clearly point beyond the immediate times of Jesus’ life? What are we to make of even the following two examples from the Word:

“Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” (Matthew 18:18-20)

“For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” (Mark 11:23-24)

So – you say, “This was Jesus talking to His disciples and does not apply in the present day.” Has it not occurred to you that most people subscribe to the application of scripture to our lives so completely that sermons in the present-day church are invariably built around the application of passages of scripture to the lives of the flock? What then are you going to make of the word ‘whoever’ in the above passage – and what are you going to make of this:

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do,because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” (John 14:12-14)

And this:

“Behold I am with you always, even to the end of the Age.” Matthew 28:20.

Both of these passages foretell Jesus’ continued connection with His followers, even after His passing from this earth.

Like it or not, God is still speaking. Like it or not, He is in this day raising up apostles and prophets to alert His people to the upcoming moves He is going to make.

Many people waste time taking it upon themselves to second guess Him. How much speculation have you read about when, if and how the rapture will take place (for example)? How many reams of paper, how many cyber-pages, how many ‘comments’ and forum posts have been taken up with this one issue, when Jesus has already told us that even He does not know the answer to this? (Matthew 24:36) What an exercise in futility! What a waste of time!

It is all further confusion instigated by the enemy to take people’s attention away from the REAL ISSUES of the day.

We need to be preparing to march forth in the Lord’s name and start taking ground for Him and His Kingdom (in our own lives to start with), not wasting time haggling over doctrine.

More to come,

Patricia

“I say refuse to doubt and refuse to question yourself in regard to hearing Me. Do not doubt the wisdom I have given you. I want you to go the way that I tell you to go.” (The Father Says Today 20 October 2017)

“Lift up your hands without wrath or doubting. I see your need and hear the cry of your heart. There will be a reversal of every physical malady that the enemy has brought against you. The blood of Jesus shed in your behalf is healing your physical body. There are angels assigned to your life to break off the word curses and the illegitimate authorities that have sought to bring about the diminishing of your health. The command of heaven is that the health of your countenance will now spring forth speedily and manifest.” (The Father Says Today 7 March 2017)

I decided to sell my beloved 10 acre block in September 2014, I think because everything became too much for me. I’ve loved the place for over 40 years but I’d lost my enthusiasm and interest. I wasn’t even interested in my plants and garden, let alone 10 acres overgrown with gorse. Much had been neglected in the years I looked after my mom with alzheimers, sole charge – there was such a lot to be done and so little funds to do it all with.

So spake the enemy.

Fortunately, I’d been born again in October 2006, at a small fellowship in a coastal town half an hour’s drive from where I live. I hadn’t been a churchgoer since I was a child, but out of the blue some friends invited me to their fellowship that day and I decided to go. It would be a change, I thought, especially since my mother was in respite care for a week. No-one at this little fellowship knew me.

Well, the worship and the service had such a strong impact that I was in tears for most of it, and decided then and there to be baptized with three others in a ceremony they were going to hold in the ocean near the church. So in this way the Lord reached out and pulled me into His boat.

Then we went back for lunch, and several people brought scriptures that had come into their minds for me. Out of probably 5 scriptures, 3 were identical:

“So I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten…” (Joel 2:25)

I was astounded. These people did not know my life’s health history, nor did they know that I had looked after my mother with alzheimers for 9 years…

That prophetic scripture encouraged me so much, because I felt it had indeed come direct from God, and thanks to the experience I’d had with the Holy Spirit on that day I really had become a ‘believer’. As very often happens, though, the outcome of the prophetic was not immediate nor has it been instant. Far from it. There is a lesson to be learned for us all in this.

When Jesus walked this earth, He worked many instant miracles – in fact the hallmark of His miracles was the instantaneous. Sometimes though, He required evidence of faith from the people He healed – as when He asked people what they wanted from Him. He knew the answer to that question perfectly well, but He wanted to draw out from them a statement of faith.

Sometimes, He required people to take action in faith – “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” (John 5:8), “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.” (John 9:7). For a man afflicted with illness for 38 years who couldn’t get himself into a pool, and for a man blind from birth, these were not trifling commands – they required faith and effort. Sometimes it is so with us, and I believe we are the better for it.

Today, instantaneous miracles are still happening:

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” (John 14:12-13)

This last quotation highlights another aspect. Many miracles were – and are – worked in such a way that there can be no doubt they are sent by God. Two historic examples are the raising of Lazarus (John 11), and the healing of the man blind from birth (John 9:1-7), as Jesus stated there in answer to the disciples’ question.

I believe there are times when the Lord does not just hand out an instantaneous healing because He wants us to trust the process, and learn something. And so it has been with me.

My mom passed away early in 2007. I always baked bread from wholewheat and ground sunflower seeds for her because she loved it – the bread was raised with baking powder, so as to avoid yeast.

Now was my opportunity: I was led to stop baking (and eating) bread, and test out a feeling I had about gluten. So I cut out all wheat products. That helped, but was still not the full answer. Then I was reminded other grains also contain gluten, so I swore off all grains except rice and a little corn – some more improvement, but still not the full answer.

I was noticing a strange cramping in my bowel at times, and the words ‘Leaky Gut Syndrome‘ kept coming to mind. So I researched an explanation:
“The small intestine, where nutrients are absorbed, is supposed to have tight cell junctions to separate the chyme (food turns into chyme in the stomach) from the bloodstream. But a chain of factors causes these tight junctions to degrade. Once the connections between intestinal cells are weakened, undigested proteins and bacterial toxins escape into the bloodstream. This leads to a heightened state of inflammation.” (Empowered Sustenance)
Could this be what was causing my skin problems and ‘under the weather’ symptoms? A condition brought about by years of candida and stress?

The way to treat Leaky Gut Syndrome holistically prescribes avoidance of all sugars and all starches (including grains and starchy vegetables). So the packets of rice biscuits (my bread substitute) went out the window, as did corn, potatoes, sweet potatoes (our NZ kumara) and yams. I put myself on the GAPS diet.

Meantime I’d had polymyalgia, which of course is an inflammatory disease, affecting mainly the legs in my case and almost destroying my mobility. It began late 2014 and thanks to careful management by my doctor, we had a recovery by April 2016. A wise friend suggested that maybe the reason the prednisone worked so well on me was that I have never taken pharmaceutical medications.

Meantime I had started a course of chiropractic to fix some spinal problems, exacerbated by a couple of falls.

After many months of daily pain and limping, I’d at last begun to feel I was starting to come right when I received the prophecy quoted at the head of this post – 7 March 2017. Note the 7s: God’s number of completion. And the 3 (March) – God’s number of perfection.

Hallelujah! This prophecy came like a heavenly benediction on a decision I was in the process of making – the decision NOT to sell my beloved 10 acre block and NOT to move away.

Well, our Father is a God of Breakthrough. He is also a God of knowledge and understanding:

“Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” (Jeremiah 3:33)

I don’t think I was meant to move away from here, and things were allowed to happen that made it virtually impossible for me to move quickly.

But what does it take to deal with all these problems?

I’ll tell you what it takes – faith, that’s what – and being prepared to trust the process. Being prepared to take action when a fast outcome is unlikely. Being prepared to listen to the still small voice, and obey. Being prepared to step out in faith without having a clue how it will work out.

“Discard the old wineskin. The old way of thinking and the old way of doing things hasn’t worked for you anyway, so set that aside… Empty your hands of the failed things of the past so a new assignment and a new vision can find its place in your heart. There is nothing to be gained in trying to produce yesterday’s fruit with the energies of today. Let that all go.” (The Father Says Today 28 September 2017)

This is a lesson being taught me right now. “The failed things of the past” clearly includes a disastrous term breeding dairy goats from 1986-1995 (terminated because my herd contracted a fatal disease). But am I also being asked to think again about my current proposals for breeding Damara sheep?

In July I bought my first Damara sheep because when I thought about running sheep on this land again, like my mother had done, my reaction was, “I don’t want all the dramas of docking, crutching and shearing, thank you!” As it happens, the three lambs recently born to these ewes all have a breed called ‘Gotland’ in their bloodline.

Last week, searching for more Damaras, I was led to a breeder about 4 hours’ journey south of here. She has the breed I was looking for, but also Gotlands – that name again! Is the Lord telling me something?

I did some research. Gotlands are originally from the Baltic – a wool sheep with very fine, dark grey wool. Then the Lord seemed to be saying to me:

“Well Pat, with the Damaras you have 2 products – either breeding stock or meat. Breeding stock isn’t always easy to sell – especially up here in the boondocks. And you know you don’t like selling animals for meat. With these Gotlands, you have a very fine, beautiful wool fleece product.”

I didn’t want the bother of shearing? Hmmm… Rethink required?

So I pulled out my mom’s spinning wheel – which over the years I’ve never got rid of. I have no documentation, and it doesn’t look like anything on the website of our largest NZ maker of spinning wheels. Never mind – I take a photo, email it to them and say, “What model is this?” Got an almost immediate reply, “This isn’t one of ours, it was called the Pipy and you can find the history and documentation here…”

Memories came flooding back – now I remember my mom calling it the Pipy. It’s a great NZ wheel, made in 1968, and it seems the design originated with an old Irish spinning wheel that came out of a bombed house in London after the war, was bought at a second-hand shop, and brought to New Zealand. This elegant wheel that used to be NZ made, is now discontinued. But the son of the man who made the wheels has started making spare parts for them. Hallelujah!

Incidentally, for all those who think of spinning as a pastime of little old ladies, research on YouTube and other websites shows many young women are now into spinning wool – and teaching others, too… Well, well!

I had intended to go on an 8+ hour round trip this morning to pick up a couple of Damara lambs (or whatever – keep an open mind) from the breeder. Yesterday morning I was thinking about the proposed journey and not feeling very enthusiastic about it. I shared with the Lord my concern and uncertainties and He said:

“This is the path – walk in it.” OK Lord… I got on with preparing my vehicle for the journey.

Then Lo and Behold out of the blue last night the breeder rang me to say she now has only one pedigree Damara lamb left. What do I want to do? I poured out to her what I’d been thinking. We had a long chat (she is a spinner, it turns out) and I’ve decided to switch horses in mid stream, buy Gotlands from her next year instead, and go into wool: a product that can be sold, not only locally, but also on the Internet. I think I can see some other angles too – about which, more later.

“You are going to TAKE OVER and DISPOSSESS the goat nations and the goat cities and the goat economies until the SHEEP of My possession will take the high places and establish a testimony to My name.” (The Father Says Today 11 August 2017)

I’m sure this refers not just to nations, but to all of the 7 Mountains of Influence. Control of these mountains needs desperately to be recovered from the powers and principalities of the enemy. Here is confirmation that this is in The Father’s plan.

I’ve been out of circulation for quite a few months – and there’s a reason for that. Back in late 2014 I was struck by a nasty disease called polymyalgia, which came close at the time to destroying my mobility. Fortunately, once diagnosed, the solution was revealed – prednisone.

Aaargh! Well I wasn’t entirely happy with THAT, but does one want to walk freely or not? In addition, polymyalgia was causing mayhem with my blood – too many platelets, anemia etc. So my doctor put me on a modest dose of prednisone and over the period of about 18 months we tailed it back and achieved a recovery. (Which some say is impossible. Well, I’ve got news for you…)

In the meantime, however, I had an accident and went to a chiropractor – fortunately a very good one. So we entered into a process of sorting out the curves in my spine and re-stabilizing my backbone.

I’d been quite depressed at the time of the polymyalgia. The only answer seemed to be to move away from this place, which I’ve been associated with for 47 years and have loved dearly. I’d even got to the point where I wasn’t interested anymore.

But things kept getting in my way – including shortage of finances to get the place tidied up for sale. On top of that I had a tree fall on my roof (damage? – oh yes!) and a second tree taken down because it was in danger of following suit. Fallout everywhere. Funds getting even lower. I seemed to be stuck in mud.

Maybe I wasn’t meant to go?

Then just before last Christmas, the tide started to turn. We began to win with the chiropractic. I was no longer limping. I’m now getting around my land as in the old days – steep and hilly as it is – and working quite hard, if carefully. There are a few things I now cannot do, but apart from that, the recovery is little short of miraculous. I will go into this in more detail in a later post.

I decided to stay – how could I ever have thought of leaving? To keep my grass down I’ve taken on breeding rare breeds Damara sheep. My first 2 bought in early July are a Damara/Arapawa cross and her daughter. Both have had lambs – and the lambs at 2 weeks old are a delight. Damaras hail from Namibia and are thought to be a breed from the Mediterranean that gradually moved south through Africa – a Middle East connection even in this!

My mother bred black Romney sheep here for the wool, and I am pleased to be into sheep now, rather than goats (much as I loved them). Somehow, ever since I was born again in late 2006, I’ve not got over the biblical distinction between sheep and goats, where the sheep are seen as the flock that knows the Shepherd’s voice and needs protection, and the goats as somehow different: notwithstanding that both species were herded by the patriarchs, and both contributed great value to the Jewish economy. Clearly also, if sheep and goats were herded together, there were times when they simply HAD to be separated, for reasons of logistics.

I think it’s worth noting that the iconography that links the image of the goat to Baal and Satan is in fact of fairly recent origin – the Phoenecians and Canaanites depicted Baal as either a man or a man with a bull’s head. In the bible, Satan is ‘the old serpent’.

The Good Shepherd

Jesus characterized himself, not as a fisher of men, though He used that metaphor to draw in His first disciples, who were fishermen – but as ‘The Good Shepherd’, and sheep feature so many times in His sayings and parables. I am very happy now to have changed species, and to be in the category of ‘shepherds‘! Every day I get great joy from this.

The prophecy I quote at the top of this post came to me on 11 August. It fitted so clearly with what I was doing that it spoke volumes and gave me great comfort.

Jesus foretold this of Himself at His second coming:

“When he finally arrives, blazing in beauty and all his angels with him, the Son of Man will take his place on his glorious throne. Then all the nations will be arranged before him and he will sort the people out, much as a shepherd sorts out sheep and goats, putting sheep to his right and goats to his left.” (Matthew 25:32-33: The Message)

I have thought much, this last few weeks during the run-up to Christmas, of some of our perceptions attaching to the place and circumstances of Jesus’ birth.

A lot of what we think seems to have come from the statement of Paul at Philippians 2:7 which says, “…but he humbled Himself, taking the form of a bond servant, and coming in the likeness of men.” From this we get ideas about Jesus, the circumstances of His life, and the details of His birth, that pervade the whole Christmas story. We get the wrong impression that Jesus was born in undesirable, impoverished conditions.

Several years ago, I heard a very interesting viewpoint put forward by Pastor Robert H Shuller that while the innkeeper in Bethlehem has had bad press because he failed to find a lodging for Joseph and Mary, the stable they finally found to lodge in was probably a blessing in disguise. Pastor Shuller pointed out that with a large number of people on the move to register in their own cities for the first Roman census, towns and inns would have been packed with all manner of people, making a crowded inn probably not the best place for the Son of God to be born.

That REALLY spoke to me.

So I would like to take the reasoning a step further. When you look at the preparations for Jesus’ birth, His Heavenly Father went to great trouble to set the stage:

1) The birth of Jesus’ forerunner and cousin, John the Baptist, was special in itself, because his parents were elderly and his mother barren. God sent the angel Gabriel to announce the birth to the father (a priest of the temple). God gave Zacharias a clear sign as proof, and also oversaw the naming of the boy. (Luke 1)

2) We also know that angels appeared to both Mary and Joseph concerning the birth of Jesus. Gabriel appeared to Mary to announce that she would have the baby, and an unnamed angel appeared to Joseph in a dream to quiet his concerns about Mary’s pregnancy. (Luke 1, Matthew 1)

3) The birth of Jesus was announced to the Magi, powerfully enough that they undertook a long journey from the east to bring Him gifts. We are not told how they were told this, but it can only have been by some form of supernatural revelation. (Matthew 2:1-2)

4) Jesus’ birth was announced by an angel and the heavenly host appearing to shepherds in the fields near Bethlehem. And before we write the shepherds off totally, let us remember that for many people in Israel, their wealth lay in their herds and so protecting their livestock was a high priority. Think of David.

In other words, Jesus’ birth was announced both to certain wise and wealthy men who were prepared to honor Him (as the wealthy of His own country were not), and to men from the lower classes whom He came to save – men from the very occupation that He was to use as an illustration of His ministry in calling Himself ‘The Good Shepherd’. (Luke 2:8-17)

Are we to assume then in the midst of all this preparation that God somehow made a mistake in designating the place where Jesus was to be born and ended up with an undesirable result?

That doesn’t make sense.

Let’s look at a few other places where God made supernatural provision for Jesus:

5) Because Herod had become aware of Jesus’ birth from the Magi, and was plotting to kill him, God took the following steps:

The Magi were warned in a dream not to return via Herod (who had asked for directions so he could find the child), so they went back another way. (Matthew 2:7-8, 12)

An angel warned Joseph in a dream that Herod was looking to kill the child, and instructed him to take Mary and Jesus and flee with them to Egypt. This he did, and remained there until Herod died – at which time Joseph was advised by an angel in a dream that it was safe to return. (Matthew 2:13-14, 19-21)

6) Towards the end of his life, when Jesus came back to Jerusalem for the last time, His need for a mount to carry Him into the city was met by the supplying of a donkey. Clearly, there must have been a divine forewarning given to the owner of the donkey, so he was prepared to let it be taken and used by people who just turned up on his doorstep. (Matthew 21:1-7)

7) Later, when Jesus needed a place to hold the Last Passover supper with His disciples, His need was met in a similar way. (Matthew 26:1-7, Luke 22:8-13) Obviously, there are other examples.

So what does all this add up to? I believe first and foremost we must stop demeaning the place and surroundings of Jesus’ birth. Yes, there is simplicity and a message in it, but not the message we have been taking.

I’ve already made Pastor Shuller’s point that a room at the inn was unsuitable. By comparison, the stable was a place of peace where God’s holiness and glory could shine out around this most special of births. What a moment that must have been for The Father! The animals that surrounded Jesus in His first hours were God’s creation – creatures that He loves. They were and still are the innocent ones, with more understanding than we give them credit for. And did I read in a recent publication where a man of God called them ‘dirty’? Hmmm….

Remember, it was an innocent animal that had to be killed to provide covering for Adam and Eve after they sinned, and through all the history of Israel up to the time of Jesus’ death, it was animals that had to die as sacrifices for the sins of the people.

Now Jesus, the Lamb of God, had come to take that burden upon Himself.

It was Jesus who made this statement – quoted in an earlier post – about Himself, actually:

“Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8: 31-36)

Jesus was referring to the freedom that comes from a life in Him, but I believe this statement applies equally well to the freedom that comes from living in a country that follows His values and His precepts. Until this last election, America was slipping further and further away from the Godly principles of freedom for a nation. Personal freedoms were being eroded, standards were being sabotaged. Standards were being twisted and reshaped out of all recognition. America had lost its standing as a world power.

If there had been another term under the same regime, many believe American democracy would have been gone for good. This would impact not only the USA, but also the rest of the world.

Many intercessors have prayed that the scales would drop from the eyes of those deceived by the Great Deception that has been taking place. It is a blessing that Americans saw the issues, realized the urgency, and made the choice for Freedom.

Stand strong again now, do not be deceived by the enemy’s new displays and threats, and do not be drawn into more division and strife. Above all, don’t believe that to carry on under the existing system would have caused things to improve – far from it.That was the slippery slope. Instead, pray for grace, for everyone. God has said, “I am doing a new thing.” So remember this:

“Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.” ( 1 John 4:4)

Satan is ‘he who is in the world’ – and you can absolutely count on the fact that Jesus is far, far greater. He will bless America again.

“if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

This testimony by Paul Gauvin will warm your heart. What a story – honest, genuine and moving.

Here is a guy who by his own admission has never made a video before, and he is uncomfortable in front of the camera. That makes his testimony all the more credible.

Paul is a young musician who about eighteen months ago had a life-changing encounter with Jesus that was completely unexpected and totally overwhelming.

Take the time to watch this through. If you have not yet asked the Lord into your life, it will give you something to think and act on. If you already have the Lord, you will rejoice in this testimony of His wonderful power and presence.

Thank you, Paul, for making this – and thank you for just being yourself.